A Bilerico reader recently asked if I knew of any images of Butch Ellis, one of the fine 1950s-era ladies featured at the Jewel Box Lounge in Kansas City. I did not but throw me a name and I must google. I found a treasure trove of excellent Jewel Box photos and other memorabilia - not surprisingly - at Queer Music Heritage.

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The most famous of those in that photo is G. G. Allen, who frequently performed at the Jewel Box Revue in New York.

I actually have a hard time calling these performers "drag"... they were female impersonators which I think of as quite different than drag. It's a very different expression and mindset even though it's been sadly blurred in the past 20 years.

I never even knew The Jewel Box Lounge was on Troost Ave. I remember a later one at 31st and Main St. I moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1977 and was still closeted enough to be afraid to go to the shows there. How I wish I had. One of the showmen worked as a checker at Linwood Super and I remember he could just smile at you and instantly be transformed into Carol Channing.